Consulting world gets nod from SEEK in talent acquisition awards

The consulting world is well represented in SEEK’s latest annual talent acquisition awards, with Deloitte, KPMG and DXC Technology among the finalists together with individuals from Capgemini and Deloitte.

Employment platform SEEK has revealed the finalists of its annual STAR talent acquisition leadership awards, with the consulting realm a prominent feature.

Although the winners won’t be announced until next year, Belinda Willis of Deloitte and Capgemini’s Andy Steeds will vie for the individual leader of the year title, while Deloitte, KPMG and DXC Technology also named among the company finalists across the various award categories.

With slew of recent human resources accolades to its name, it’s not surprising that Capgemini’s A/NZ head of talent acquisition Andy Steeds is now up for an individual honour. Steeds has been with the firm since the end of 2021, crossing from a brief stint at Ernst & Young, where he oversaw partner level recruitment for the Big Four’s APAC consulting practice.

Prior to that, he spent time at Canva, Deloitte Consulting and recruitment specialist Ambition.

In offering its congratulations, Capgemini described Steeds as being known for fostering a diverse, inclusive, and supportive work environment while consistently achieving remarkable results, while Steeds in turn thanked the firm’s supportive leadership and acknowledged the other fantastic award finalists, along with giving a shout-out to SEEK, “for holding these awards and highlighting the significant efforts of those in talent acquisition.”

Also up for leader of the year is Deloitte’s head of talent acquisition Belinda Willis, with once again the firm commonly recognised for its human resources practices. Based out of Sydney, Willis has been with the Big Four firm for over half a decade, joining in 2018 from Rabobank and now overseeing in excess of 4,500 lateral and early career hires annually. In terms of her own early career, Willis started out at KPMG Consulting (now BearingPoint).

While at Rabobank, Willis also served as head of diversity & inclusion – a category Deloitte is now a finalist in for the SEEK STAR awards alongside the Salvation Army, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and the Australian branch of global tech and business recruitment firm FDM. The latter is additionally a finalist in the best employer brand initiative category, while DXC Technology and KPMG will go head-to-head for the best candidate experience initiative award.

Emulating previous winners

The above will all be hoping to emulate tech consultancy Mantel Group, which last year won the STAR award for Talent Acquisition Team of the Year for companies with fewer than 1,000 employees. With the company noted for its workplace innovations, Mantel’s head of talent experience Nicole Gioia was also a finalist for last year’s top individual honour, but ultimately missed out alongside fellow nominees Lauren Stanton of EY and DXC’s Alexie McKeith.

This year, Gioia will be helping to determine the fresh batch of winners as a member of the independent judging panel, bringing more than two decades of industry experience to the table, including sixteen years spent at Deloitte. Former Deloitte human capital partner and now independent consultant Juliet Bourke is also among the judges, as is Jenna Barnes, head of A/NZ talent acquisition for international infrastructure consultancy AECOM.